3 Steps to Making Your Brand Stand Out Online

You’ve got a booming email list. You built a rockin’ website. You started a Facebook page. But for some reason, your business’ phone isn’t ringing off the hook. Instead, all you hear are crickets. Why? There are a myriad of reasons why a business isn’t taking off, but one of the main causes of business failure, is the lack of a truly developed brand. If your audience can’t clearly understand or define your business, they’re not going to automatically think of you the next time they are in need of your services or product. Having a comprehensive brand identity is one of the best business decisions you can make. In order to have one, you need to take stock of your brand’s current standing. Don’t know where to start? Here are three simple steps to an awesome brand:

1// Identity: Ever heard of K.I.S.S. : “Keep It Simple Stupid”? The most successful brands live by this acronym. Evaluate your current brand identity. Is your company name, logo, signature graphics, colors, voice and tone all succinct? Do they all express your business philosophy and goal? Does your tagline accurately convey your company’s mission? What can you do to make these elements more you? Do you need new stock photos? A new logo? Do you need to rewrite your copy so that it is on point with your main message?

2// Audience: The key to any business is knowing your audience. That audience can be a client or a buyer. Create a persona catalog filled with at least three audience personas. Does your content attract your target audience? Do some research - what type of audience is your biggest competitors attracting? Are your emails being deleted more than they are being opened? Maybe it’s time to go through your email list and delete some emails that just aren’t valuable to your brand’s community.

3// Platform Consistency: If you really want to delve deeply into a brand audit, I would recommend a website and digital platforms audit. Take a look at all of the content on your website and separate it by pages in an Excel sheet. Under each page, write out the purpose/ goal of each picture and all of the words written on that page. Make sure that all of this content is consistent with your brand identity and funnels into your brand message. Create a sitemap to see how each page connects and relates to one another. Make sure that your website is simple and easy to navigate. Comb through your social media platforms: Does each post’s content reflect your brand’s identity?

Brand audits can be overwhelming but once you break them down into actionable items, you can greatly improve your business with some simple tweeks. It’s all about refocusing. Brand audits can give your business a healthy boost just in time for big success.